Cheiftess
by Penelope Anne Neptune
Summary: What if Stoick did die at the Great Gathering of Chieftains and Valka was stuck with the role of single parenting, along with having to be chieftess. And when a certain dragon won't leave her alone, it is up to her to make sure that her son grows up in a peaceful Berk. AU. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Bearer of Bad News

A/N: Well I have adopted this story from DarkForest11. I kept her summary and title. I also have revamped her chapters she had already wrote. Hope you guys like it.

* * *

"Well, Stoick, what can we do? No one can... _control_ dragons." Anders the Courageous stated.

"I know that, Anders, but there has to be something we can do." Stoick retorted.

The door burst open and a strange man walked in. He was limping, everyone saw that and he was wearing a dragon skin like a cloak. He spoke softly and didn't look any of them in the eye.

"Who are you?" Jerrick, the chief of the Asarta tribe, questioned.

"My name is Drago Bludvist. I, alone, can control the dragons." the stranger stated

"That's preposterous!" Stoick the Vast exclaimed.

"Oh, I can. All you have to do is bow down to me." Drago added and the entire hall burst into loud laughter.

"Like we would ever bow down to you!" Stoick said between fits of laughter.

"Fine! See how well you'll do without me!" Dragon yelled before stomping out of the hall, flinging his cloak after him to make a dramatic exit.

Then the roof started to flame up and armored dragons descended and set the hall on fire.

"Everyone! Get out of the hall!" Stoick screamed as the other chiefs tried to run for the door, only to have dragons fly in front of the only exit.

Then, the dragons started to attack, killing the chiefs by the dozen. Stoick could only watch the scene before him for a moment before his mind and body could work again.

"NO!" Stoick screamed as he watched one of his best chief friends, Jerrik, being burned to death.

"Okay, you filthy dragons! Come and get me!' Stoick screamed as three dragons noticed him and attacked at the same time, Luckily, another chief got one of the dragons to notice him and it forgot about Stoick and attacked the other man.

"Give me all you got!" he yelled as one of the dragons pounced at Stoick, unfortunately for the dragon, Stoick dodged it and it couldn't get up fast enough and Stoick took his sword and plunged it deep into the dragon's chest.

Then, the other dragon lunged and gave Stoick a really deep, long cut. Stoick's adrenaline kicked in and he took his sword and stabbed the dragon, but missed its heart. But to Stoick's horror it still had enough energy to pin him down and as he saw its mouth fill up with gas, fear filled him.

"NO! Val needs me! Hicc-" Stoick couldn't finish his sentence because the dragon went for the finishing blow.

* * *

Some of the locals saw the flames and heard the screams and opened the doors. The dragons flew away in a hurry. The flames were dying down to embers and they saw the ground littered with the charred remains of the chiefs. One of the warriors, Axel, bowed his head for a moment of silence at the three dozen lives lost.

Axel turned to the others and asked, "Does anyone have a list of who was in that meeting?"

"Yes." Hunter answered.

"Good. Send it with Trader Johann. He can tell them when he stops at each island."

"He will be here tomorrow. I'll tell him."

"Thank you, Hunter."

* * *

"Ah, Hunter! How may I be of assistance to you?" Trader Johann asked.

"I really hate to place this burden on you, Johann, but I have no other choice. You can travel to these villages faster than us."

He took them from the young man and looked at them before asking, "All of these chiefs are dead?"

Hunter slowly nodded and answered, "Like I said, we wouldn't put this on you, but it would just take us too long."

"No worries. I'll take this news to the tribes."

"Thank you, Johann."

* * *

Valka laid Hiccup on her lap and held his little hands in hers and kissed his forehead.

"Who's my baby boy? Who's my little Hiccup?" Valka asked her five month old, who giggled at her in return.

Valka stood up and grabbed her sling and put Hiccup inside of it and said, "Let's see if your daddy is back from his trip.

Stoick should have been back from his trip a few days ago, but Valka tried her best not to worry and stay positive, for Hiccup's and Berk's sake. Once she got down to the docks, she saw a huge crowd listening to someone. She couldn't quite make it out from where she was standing. She managed to weave her way through the crowd and closer to the docks. She saw it was Trader Johann and by the look on his face, he had terrible news. The crowd dispersed, all of them hanging their heads low and Valka got right up to Johann to ask him what was going on.

"Um, excuse me? What's going on?" she asked, a little on the demanding side.

"W-Well something, uh, happened, Valka." Gobber mumbled

Valka's face softened with worry and she asked, "What happened?"

Johann took over as Gobber could not find his words for the first time in his life and said, "Well at that gathering of the great cheiftains, there was an accident. The locals there saw a a strange man leaving the meeting before the hall burst into flames. Dragons attacked the hall. All of the cheifs were nothing but charred remains."

Valka leaned against the post, her legs unable to hold her up any longer and she said, "No. No. No."

"I am very sorry, Mrs Haddock." Johann said and reached into a trunk, pulling out Stoick's helmet and cape buckles and handed them to Gobber.

"H-He can't be dead. He just _can't_." Valka protested. "YOU'RE LYING." Valka shouted, confused, angry and upset.

Hiccup started to cry and Gobber put a hand on Valka's shoulder to try and comfort her.

"Don't. Touch. ME!" Valka demanded, tears streaming down her face.

"We are all grieving, Valka, but you and me, we have to keep it together; for the village's and Hiccup's sake." Gobber said as Valka tried to calm down the crying Hiccup.

She held Hiccup close to her and cuddled him and whispered, "I'm sorry, Hiccup. Your daddy isn't coming home."


	2. Grief

A/N: Alright. Here's chapter two. Sorry it's taken me so long. Work gets in the way of my writing.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Gobber hobbled up the steps to the Haddock household and banged on the door, yelling, "Val! Come out!"

Valka did not answer him and just continued to stare into the crackling fireplace.

"Valka! It's been a week and you still haven't come out!" he yelled.

"Leave me alone!" Valka answered, cradling Hiccup in her arms.

"Come on! I know you're still sad, but the village needs you." Gobber protested.

"The village needs Stoick, not me." Valka answered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Well I can't be the chief and the blacksmith. You are the only person that is eligible to be chief. Hiccup is too young." Gobber said.

Valka slowly stood up and opened the door. Gobber laid his eyes on her for the first time in a week and saw how disheveled she was. Her usual tightly braided hair was a mess and she had huge bags under her eyes. Gobber stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He knew Valka didn't want the village to see her in the state she was in at the moment.

"I-I just can't think straight right now." Valka said, her voice wavering and Gobber put a hand on her shoulder for comfort.

"The village is suffering because I'm not two people, Valka. You have to step up and be chief until Hiccup is old enough."

"I know. It's just a lot to take in. J-Just give me a few more days." Valka sighed.

"Just a few more." Gobber confirmed as he started to hobble off. He stopped in his tracks and turned to say, "Also, your good friend Ingrid had her baby."

"S-She did?"

"Yes. She had a girl; Asta or something." Gobber answered and left the house, shutting the door behind him.

"Hear that, my little Hiccup? You're going to have a friend." Valka said, kissing her son's forehead.

* * *

Gobber hobbled back to his home and shut the door behind him. He leaned against the door and took in a deep breath.

"Why did ya have ta leave, Stoick?"

He looked down and sank to the floor. Valka lost her husband, the village lost a great chief, and Gobber lost his best friend. And Hiccup. Gobber knew he needed to help Hiccup become the best chief he could be.

A single tear ran down Gobber's face, but he didn't care.

"I hope you're having a wonderful time at the table of kings. I'll miss you, brother."

* * *

Valka put Hiccup in a sling and decided to go for a walk around Berk. A walk would do them both good. Hiccup curled up in the sling and Valka smiled down at him. She walked out of her house for the first time in days and the fresh air and wind on her face felt amazing.

She said hello to the villagers that greeted her on her way to the woods. She wanted to just be with nature for a little while.

She walked and walked and before she knew it, she ended up where Stoick had proposed to her a year and a half ago. She found the oak they carved a heart in and traced it.

"Oh, Stoick. I miss you so much."

She became lost in her thoughts and she didn't notice the footsteps approaching her.

She turned a little too late and was only feet from a large dragon.

Valka gasped and held Hiccup close to her and the dragon came a little closer, curious to see what she was holding. Valka kept stepping back, but it was no use, since the dragon wasn't ready to leave her alone. This close, she would admit that it looked magnificent. Valka was up against a rock wall now and she would admit she began to panic. The dragon was face to face with her now and it lowered it's head.

"W-What do you want?" Valka managed to ask.

It looked at her with eyes that reminded her of an owl's and made a indication of what it wanted with it's head.

"You want me to get on your back?"

The dragon seemed to understand her and nodded. Valka hesitated, but did it, mostly out of curiousity. The dragon tried to take off into the air a couple times, but Valka told it no. She didn't want Hiccup to fall out of his sling somehow. The sun started to descend and Valka realized she had been out here just walking on the dragon's back for hours. Hiccup started to wake and grabbed for her, indicating that he was hungry.

"I have to go now, dragon."

She slid off of it and began walking back towards Berk.

* * *

Valka walked into her home and saw there was a note on the table under Stoick's helmet. It was from Gobber.

 _Holding feast for Stoick. Great Hall. -Gobber_

Valka sighed, knowing she would have to put her brave face on and probably give a speech in front of the village. She walked up the stairs and placed Hiccup in his crib and pulled her best clothes out of her trunk and put them on. She re-did her braids and braced herself for what was coming. She had to be the tough cheiftess that the village needed; the brave mother to Hiccup. Gods help her. Hiccup, the pride of Berk. She would have to prepare him for the long journey ahead; becoming chief. Valka and Gobber helped Stoick figure things out so it shouldn't be that hard to do it again. Once Hiccup turned eighteen, he would take the place of chief.

Valka checked on Hiccup who was still sleeping and made the quick walk to the Great Hall to see if everything was set up.

"Ah. I see ya got my note."

"Yes I did, Gobber, and you really need to work on your penmanship. I could barely read it."

Sven snickered and kept working.

"Is everything ready, Gobber?"

"Aye. It is."

"Good. I'll be back in a bit."

* * *

A/N: Sooo? Now that Cloudjumper has been introduced... Still not entirely sure where I was going with that, but whatever. And yes, I did cry while I was typing Gobber's little point of view. Hopefully I can crank out the next chapter quickly


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